1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to an ophthalmic apparatus and methods of measuring, by the ophthalmic apparatus, a treatment location and, more particularly, to an ophthalmic apparatus for measuring a lesion location of an eyeball and methods of measuring, by the ophthalmic apparatus, a treatment location.
2. Related Art
Types of ocular diseases include diseases, such as glaucoma in which intraocular pressure rises in the vitreous humour of an eyeball, a cataract in which a whitening phenomenon is generated in the crystalline lens, and macular degeneration generated in a retinal image that is focused.
Recently, in order to treat ocular diseases, such as those described above, an ophthalmic treatment apparatus using a laser as a beam for treatment has emerged and the usability of the ophthalmic treatment apparatus is increasing. In order to treat ocular diseases using such an ophthalmic treatment apparatus, the treatment location of an ocular disease must be accurately measured. In particular, if a disease is generated in the retina, more accurate measurement is required because the retina is placed at the deepest location of an eyeball and includes many blood vessel, etc.
Meanwhile, a conventional ophthalmic apparatus is disclosed in “Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2000-0022509” entitled “Medical Laser Guidance Apparatus.” The “medical laser guidance apparatus”, that is, the aforementioned prior document, is technically characterized in that it includes retina image acquisition means, retina image display means for displaying a retinal image, reference data reception means for receiving data related to performed treatment from an operator when the data is used, template generation means for generating a reference template on a retinal image, target location reception means for receiving data related to at least one target point to which light is applied based on received reference data, current retina location detection means for outputting a signal indicative of the current location of the retina within the template based on a comparison between a current image of the retina from the retina image acquisition means and the template and the reference data, and laser light application means for directing laser light to the retina based on output from the current retina location detection means and the target location reception means.
However, the technical characteristic disclosed in the conventional prior document may have a problem in that it is difficult to measure a more accurate location of the retina because it uses a method of displaying a retinal image without photographing the fundus oculi region of the retina. Furthermore, an image recognized by an operator through a view finder is limited to a local portion of a retinal image, which makes it difficult to check that a location viewed through the view finder corresponds to which location of the entire retina. Accordingly, if an operator lacks of experience, it is frequently difficult to move a visual field of the view finder to an operation location.